31. Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

31. Sic et ii nunc increduli facti sunt, eo quod adepti estis misericordiam, ut ipsi quoque misericordiam consequantur.
367367 Our common version departs here from the original by connecting “your mercy” with the last clause. Calvin keeps the proper order of the words, though he paraphrases them, τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει, “eo quod adepti estis misericordiam.” They might have been rendered, “through your mercy,” that is, the mercy shown to you, or the mercy of which you are the
objects. — Ed.

32. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

28. With regard indeed to the gospel, etc. He shows that the worst thing in the Jews ought not to subject them to the contempt of the Gentiles. Their chief crime was
unbelief: but Paul teaches us, that they were thus blinded for a time by God’s providence, that a way to the gospel might
be made for the Gentiles;
368368 They were “enemies” to Paul and the Church, say Grotius and Luther, — to the gospel, says Pareus, — to God, says Mede and Stuart. The parallel in the next clause, “beloved,” favors the last sentiment. They were become God’s enemies, and alienated through
their rejection of the gospel; but
they were still regarded as descendants of the Fathers and in some sense on their account “beloved,” as those for whom
God entertained love, inasmuch as his “gifts and calling” made in their behalf, were still in force and never to be changed.
— Ed.
and that still they were not for ever excluded from the favor of God. He then admits, that they were for the present
alienated from God on account of the gospel, that thus the salvation, which at first was deposited with them, might come to
the Gentiles; and yet that God was not unmindful of the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and by which he testified
that according to his eternal purpose he loved that nation: and this he
confirms by this remarkable declaration, — that the grace of the divine calling cannot be made void; for this is the import
of the words, —

29. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He has mentioned gifts and calling; which are to be understood, according to a figure in grammar,
369369Hypallage — transposition, a change in the arrangement of a sentence.
as meaning the gift of calling: and this is not to be taken for any sort of calling but of that, by which God had adopted
the posterity of Abraham into covenant; since this is especially the subject here, as he has previously, by the word, election,
designated the secret purpose of God, by which he had formerly made a distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles.
370370 It is not desirable to amalgamate words in this manner; nor is it necessary. The Apostle ascends; he mentions first the “gifts,”
the free promises which God made to the Jews; and then he refers to the origin of them, the calling or the election of God,
and says that both are irreversible, or, as Castellio well explains the word ἀμεταμέλητα, irrevocable. See a similar instance in Romans 13:13Calvin seems to regard “the gifts and calling” as having reference to the adoption of the Jewish nation, and their adoption to certain
privileges included in the Abrahamic covenant, probably those mentioned in Romans 9:4. But Pareus, Mede, and others, extend the meaning
farther, and consider “the gifts” as including those of “faith, remission of sins, sanctification, perseverance and
salvation;” and they understand by “calling,” not the external, which often fails, but the internal, made by the Spirit, and
every efficacious, of which the Apostle had spoken, when he said, “Those whom he has predestinated, he has called, justified,
and glorified.” According to this view the Apostle must be considered to mean, that according to what is said in
Romans 11:5, the gifts and callings of God shall be effectual towards some of the Jews throughout all ages, and towards the whole nation, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in; or, that though
they may be suspended, they shall yet be made evident at the appointed time; so that what secures and renders certain the
restoration of the Jews is the covenant of free grace which God made with their
fathers. Some, as Pareus informs us, have concluded from what is here said, that no Gentile nation, once favored with “the gifts and calling of God,”
shall be wholly forsaken; and that though religion may for a long season be in a degenerated state, God will yet, in his own
appointed time, renew his gifts and his calling, and restore true religion. The ground of hope is the irrevocability of his
gifts and calling. —
Ed.
For we must bear this in mind, — that he speaks not now of the election of individuals, but of the common adoption of
the whole nation, which might seem for a time, according to the outward appearance, to have failed, but had not been cut up
by the roots. As the Jews had fallen from their privilege and the salvation promised them, that some hope might remain to
the remnant, Paul maintains that the purpose of God stands firm and immovable, by
which he had once deigned to choose them for himself as a peculiar nation. Since then it cannot possibly be, that the
Lord will depart from that covenant which he made with Abraham,

it is evident that he has not wholly turned away his kindness from the Jewish nation.

He does not oppose the gospel to election, as though they were contrary the one to the other, for whom God has chosen he calls;
but inasmuch as the gospel had been proclaimed to the Gentiles beyond the expectation of the world, he justly compares this
favor with the ancient election of the Jews, which had been manifested so many ages before: and so election derives its name
from antiquity; for God had in past ages of the world chosen one
people for himself.

On account of the Fathers, he says not, because they gave any cause for love, but because God’s favor had descended from them to their posterity, according
to the tenor of the covenant, “Thy God and the God of thy seed.” How the Gentiles had obtained mercy through the unbelief
of the
Jews, has been before stated, namely, that God, being angry with the Jews for their unbelief, turned his kindness to them.
What immediately follows, that they became unbelievers through the mercy manifested to the Gentiles, seems rather strange;
and yet there is in it nothing unreasonable; for Paul assigns not the cause of blindness, but only declares, that what God
transferred to the Gentiles had been taken away from the Jews. But lest what they had lost through unbelief, should be thought
by
the Gentiles to have been gained by them through the merit of faith, mention is made only of mercy. What is substantially
said then is, — that as God purposed to show mercy to the Gentiles, the Jews were on this account deprived of the light of
faith.

32. For God has shut up, etc. A remarkable conclusion, by which he shows that there is no reason why they who have a hope of salvation should despair of
others; for whatever they may now be, they have been like all the rest. If they have emerged from unbelief through God’s mercy
alone,
they ought to leave place for it as to others also. For he makes the Jews equal in guilt with the Gentiles, that both
might understand that the avenue to salvation is no less open to others than to them. For it is the mercy of God alone which
saves; and this offers itself to both. This sentence then corresponds with the testimony of Hosea, which he had before quoted,
“I will call those my people who were not my people.” But he does not mean,
that God so blinds all men that their unbelief is to be imputed to him; but that he hath so arranged by his providence,
that all should be guilty of unbelief, in order that he might have them subject to his judgment, and for this end, — that
all merits being buried, salvation might proceed from his goodness alone.
371371 The verb which Calvin renders conclusi, συνέκλεισε means to shut up together. The paraphrase of Chrysostom is, that “God has proved (ἤλεγξεν) all to be unbelieving.” Wolfius considers the meaning the same with Romans 3:9, and with Galatians 3:22. God has in his providence, as well as in his word, proved and demonstrated,
that all mankind are by nature in a state of unbelief and of sin and of condemnation. God has shut up together, etc., “how?” asks Pareus; then he answers, “by manifesting, accusing, and condemning unbelief, but not by effecting or approving it.” — Ed.

Paul then intends here to teach two things — that there is nothing in any man why he should be preferred to others, apart
from the mere favor of God; and that God in the dispensation of his grace, is under no restraint that he should not grant
it to whom he pleases. There is an emphasis in the word mercy; for
it intimates that God is bound to none, and that he therefore saves all freely, for they are all equally lost. But extremely
gross is their folly who hence conclude that all shall be saved; for Paul simply means that both Jews and Gentiles do not
otherwise obtain salvation than through the mercy of God, and thus he leaves to none any reason for complaint. It is indeed
true that this mercy is
without any difference offered to all, but every one must seek it by faith.

367 Our common version departs here from the original by connecting “your mercy” with the last clause. Calvin keeps the proper order of the words, though he paraphrases them, τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει, “eo quod adepti estis misericordiam.” They might have been rendered, “through your mercy,” that is, the mercy shown to you, or the mercy of which you are the
objects. — Ed.

368 They were “enemies” to Paul and the Church, say Grotius and Luther, — to the gospel, says Pareus, — to God, says Mede and Stuart. The parallel in the next clause, “beloved,” favors the last sentiment. They were become God’s enemies, and alienated through
their rejection of the gospel; but
they were still regarded as descendants of the Fathers and in some sense on their account “beloved,” as those for whom
God entertained love, inasmuch as his “gifts and calling” made in their behalf, were still in force and never to be changed.
— Ed.

369Hypallage — transposition, a change in the arrangement of a sentence.

370 It is not desirable to amalgamate words in this manner; nor is it necessary. The Apostle ascends; he mentions first the “gifts,”
the free promises which God made to the Jews; and then he refers to the origin of them, the calling or the election of God,
and says that both are irreversible, or, as Castellio well explains the word ἀμεταμέλητα, irrevocable. See a similar instance in Romans 13:13Calvin seems to regard “the gifts and calling” as having reference to the adoption of the Jewish nation, and their adoption to certain
privileges included in the Abrahamic covenant, probably those mentioned in Romans 9:4. But Pareus, Mede, and others, extend the meaning
farther, and consider “the gifts” as including those of “faith, remission of sins, sanctification, perseverance and
salvation;” and they understand by “calling,” not the external, which often fails, but the internal, made by the Spirit, and
every efficacious, of which the Apostle had spoken, when he said, “Those whom he has predestinated, he has called, justified,
and glorified.” According to this view the Apostle must be considered to mean, that according to what is said in
Romans 11:5, the gifts and callings of God shall be effectual towards some of the Jews throughout all ages, and towards the whole nation, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in; or, that though
they may be suspended, they shall yet be made evident at the appointed time; so that what secures and renders certain the
restoration of the Jews is the covenant of free grace which God made with their
fathers. Some, as Pareus informs us, have concluded from what is here said, that no Gentile nation, once favored with “the gifts and calling of God,”
shall be wholly forsaken; and that though religion may for a long season be in a degenerated state, God will yet, in his own
appointed time, renew his gifts and his calling, and restore true religion. The ground of hope is the irrevocability of his
gifts and calling. —
Ed.

371 The verb which Calvin renders conclusi, συνέκλεισε means to shut up together. The paraphrase of Chrysostom is, that “God has proved (ἤλεγξεν) all to be unbelieving.” Wolfius considers the meaning the same with Romans 3:9, and with Galatians 3:22. God has in his providence, as well as in his word, proved and demonstrated,
that all mankind are by nature in a state of unbelief and of sin and of condemnation. God has shut up together, etc., “how?” asks Pareus; then he answers, “by manifesting, accusing, and condemning unbelief, but not by effecting or approving it.” — Ed.